


The Hot Spring Episode

by Star_The_Trekkie



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Fluffy, Friendship, Gen, How tag?, M/M, Not Beta Read, i'm a shameless weeb, they just have a nice time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-15
Updated: 2019-11-15
Packaged: 2021-01-31 07:34:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21442555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Star_The_Trekkie/pseuds/Star_The_Trekkie
Summary: The Horde cadet trio has a good time at a hot spring
Relationships: Kyle & Lonnie (She-Ra), Kyle/Rogelio (She-Ra), Lonnie & Rogelio
Comments: 7
Kudos: 168





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> They got so much love this season I'm so happy

Three weeks. That’s how long it had been since the three of them had left the Fright Zone together. It had taken three weeks to get here, to this mountain road in the Kingdom of Snows. 

Kyle wasn’t sure if Lonnie had a destination in mind when they’d left, but she certainly didn’t now. He thought back to her expression when they learned Brightmoon was destroyed by Horde forces from the sky. 

Kyle didn’t know what had happened to the princesses, no one did. If they had, he figured, they might have already joined up with them. 

“C’mon, Kyle, hurry up!” Lonnie called back to him. “The faster we get out of this cold the better.” Kyle trotted to catch up with her and Rogelio. 

Rogelio had been taking the cold remarkably well, but anyone could see he was struggling. A vicious gust made Kyle pull the folds of his cloak tighter around him. Kyle squeezed his eyes shut and continued to climb behind the other two. 

He kept his eyes shut until he bumped into Rogelio a few minutes later. He peeked around to see what had made them stop, and had to rub his eyes to make sure he wasn’t imagining things. 

The road had led to a space between two mountains, and continued down into a depression in the mountain range. A rather large structure stood at the center of the valley, surrounded by thick, short trees. What appeared to be steam rose from behind the foliage. The building itself was different from anything Kyle had seen before in his life. The roof curved up at the corners, and the exterior was painted a vibrant red.

“Guys… are you seeing this?” asked Lonnie. She looked back at them. The two boys nodded at her. She smiled and said: “what do you say we go and check it out?” she turned and kept walking down to the valley. 

The grass in the valley was dotted with yellow and pink wildflowers, and the harsh winds from the mountains were almost nonexistent. The trees had a sharp aroma to them, but it wasn’t unpleasant, like the smoke in the Fright Zone, but fragrant, like nothing he’d smelled before. 

The three walked up the steps to the building, which creaked from their age, apparent at first sight from the way the red paint peeled, the way they curved in on themselves. 

Despite its age, the place was well looked after. When Lonnie opened the door, the inside looked even more inviting than the valley it was nestled in. the floor was made of some sort of soft plant, but it was sturdier than some of the better-traveled hallways in the Fright Zone. The room was well-lit, and there was a desk across from them. Lonnie went up to the desk and looked around. 

A scurrying sound came from the stairs, startling the three. A little old woman came down the stairs, holding a basket bigger than she was. Kyle rushed over to help her.

“Oh thank you, dear. It’s been a while since I had visitors, so I thought I’d make a basket for you three. You look tired, why don’t I take you to your room?” she smiled at them, and gestured for them to follow. Kyle shrugged at the other two over the basket and went after her. 

“Here you are. Dinner will be ready in an hour or so, so make yourselves at home, alright?” she reached up and pinched Kyle’s cheek, then turned to leave.

“Wait wait wait, what exactly is this place?” asked Lonnie. Her and Rogelio had followed Kyle up the narrow stairway to this room and were standing at the end of the hall. 

“Oh, I’m sorry. This is a hot spring, you see. This place is here to give travelers like yourselves somewhere to rest along the way. We used to be quite popular, people from all over Etheria would come here to rest their heads. But then the Horde took over the Scorpion Kingdom, and… there just weren’t any more visitors. Don’t worry about money or anything, by the way. I’m more than happy to let you three stay here for free. It’s not like I need money these days anyway.” she smiled up at them and went back down the stairs. 

Lonnie spoke first. 

“Isn’t this a little too good to be true?” Kyle shrugged. 

“Well, it’s not like we have anywhere to be, is it? We could at least give it a try. It’s nice and warm here, and I think we could all use a break,” he looked up at Rogelio, who nodded. Lonnie sighed.

“You’re right. But the second things turn south, we’re out of here, okay?” the boys nodded. 

“Of course!” 

The room was sparsely decorated, with three soft-looking objects in the center of the floor. On the far side of the room was a wardrobe, and a low table leaned against one wall. Kyle set the basket down in the center of the room. 

Inside were three dark blue robes, which smelled like steam. 

_ It would feel great to get out of these clothes, _ thought Kyle. His cadet uniform was soaked through and freezing cold. Lonnie bent over the basket, then gasped.

“Soap? I haven’t had a shower in _days,” _she grabbed one of the soap bars from the basket. “Wow, that smells nice.” Rogelio closed the sliding door behind him and sat down next to Kyle. When Kyle pulled several bottles of an undetermined substance out of the basket, Lonnie gasped again.

“Is that shampoo? I heard only the force captains got that stuff back at the Horde!” she grinned, and they kept rifling through the contents of the basket. 

The rest of the basket were sandals, towels, and some more nice-smelling items of indeterminate use. When they were through, Lonnie stood up and said:

“Well? What do you say we go and get cleaned up?” she seemed to have disregarded her initial misgivings about the inn, in favor of a nice shower. 

“Baths are over that way, dears!” said the old woman on their way. 

The showers were unlike anything Kyle had ever seen before. The walls and floor were made of a smooth, white material, and the room was full of faucets and buckets. The water from the taps was cool, but pleasantly so. It was nothing like the showers at the Fright Zone. They only had one setting: ice cold! 

“Hey, Rogelio?” said Kyle. Rogelio was sitting behind him, rubbing shampoo into his hair upon instruction shouted over the dividing wall by Lonnie. Rogelio grunted, prompting him to continue.

“I think this might have been the best month of my life. I’m so glad I get to be here with you and Lonnie, you guys are more important to me than anything else,” it was a matter-of-fact statement. Kyle was sure he’d been dreaming when Lonnie had told him to get up that morning, that they were leaving the Fright Zone for good. Kyle had never been a soldier, and the Fright Zone had never been his home, but Lonnie and Rogelio were his family, and there had never been any doubt about that. Rogelio was drying his hair off now, having rinsed out the last of the conditioner. Kyle messed with the edge of his shorts, not sure how to continue the conversation. 

When Rogelio was through, Kyle followed him through the doorway leading outside. When questioned about it, Rogelio made no noise but gestured to what was waiting. Steam curled from the crystal clear water of the spring. Petals and leaves floated in the still water, coming from the trees and flowers growing all around. Splashing from the other side of the wooden wall told them that Lonnie had already found the spring. Kyle tentatively stepped into the shallow end. 

The water was hot, comfortably hot. Kyle sat down, sinking up to his shoulders. Leaning up against the side of the spring, he closed his eyes to take in the sounds of the spring. When he opened them again, Rogelio was next to him. Kyle smiled and scooted closer. He supposed a few minutes had passed when Rogelio yawned, stretching his arm up, then slowly over Kyl’s shoulders. Kyle looked up at Rogelio, who might have already been blushing from the steam but, 

Smiling, Kyle leaned up against Rogelio’s chest. He felt safe, Kyle thought. Looking up at the stars visible through tree branches and lantern light, so many more than what could be seen from the Fright Zone, Kyle wondered if this was what paradise felt like.  _ Surely, _ he thought,  _ paradise isn’t this wonderful.  _


	2. Chapter 2

When Lonnie came out of the bath, feeling refreshed after drinking the stuff from the fridge that was definitely not ration paste, despite looking exactly like it. (it was good, whatever it was) she wasn’t sure she’d ever felt this nice. 

The clothes were nice. A loose-fitting garment that fit almost like a robe, but shorter and more comfortable. She hadn’t tied her hair back up yet, figuring she’d leave it down for the night. She carried her uniform, along with the soap and other bath items back up to their room, setting the sopping wet clothes out to dry. Turning around, the table caught Lonnie’s eye. It wasn’t laying on the wall anymore, but that was the least of it. It was covered in dishes of various sizes, from small plates with little pink block-shaped things, to bowls of plant-like things, to little cups of steaming liquid that looked suspiciously like Scorpia’s “friendship tea.” 

“Woah! What’s this?” Kyle and Rogelio had come back from the baths, looking great. Kyle sat at one side of the table, looking eager to try some of the food. Rogelio sat on another side. He stopped Kyle from reaching for one of the pink blocks and gestured to the clawsticks in front of the place setting. Kyle looked confused.

“Look, Kyle. Scorpia taught me to use these a while back. I guess they’re from her kingdom or something? See? You hold them like this,” she showed him how to use them to pick up one of the plant-things. He followed along until he dropped his pink block into a little bowl of brown liquid. 

Grimacing, Kyle carefully got the block from the bowl to his mouth. He chewed for a moment before his eyes went wide. He swallowed, then said:

“It’s really good! Even better than the grey ration bars!” Lonnie, doubtful, tried the plant thing she was holding. It was incredible. The plant was crunchy, and it had a quality to it that made Lonnie’s tongue tingle. Before she knew what had happened, the three of them were tucking into the feast laid out on the table. 

When they were through, there was nothing left of the food. Lonnie supposed it had been days since they’d eaten, too. Though they were used to it, it still felt great to eat a meal after so long. 

“Oh? Are you done already?” the owner of the inn stood in the doorway. “I’m glad you liked my cooking! We have a tennis table in the basement if you three want to use it before you go to bed,” she went past them to start to clear off the table for them. Lonnie wasn’t quite tired yet, so she led the boys down to the basement to play. 

There were a few scuffed-up ping-pong tables at the Horde, but this one was much, much nicer. Kyle yawned and plopped down on the soft-looking beanbag on one side of the table.

“I’m gonna watch if that’s okay with you.” he sank into the beanbag much further than Lonnie would have expected him to. Rogelio handed her a paddle. 

He served the ball high, like Lonnie expected him to. She returned it, watching carefully for Rogelio’s next move. He went for the left, she deflected it. He tried for the right, and Lonnie hit the ball past his right.

“1-0, big guy!” she exclaimed. Rogelio snorted, then caught her off guard by returning her serve above her head. He huffed with satisfaction, and they kept playing.

Lonnie guessed it must have been a while since they started since when she looked over to Kyle to see if he’d seen her epic save, he was fast asleep. Rogelio followed her gaze, then sighed, putting down the paddle. 

He went over to Kyle. Rogelio lifted the smaller boy off of the beanbag, careful not to wake him. They made their way back upstairs to their room, where Rogelio gently tucked him into one of the bedrolls on the floor. 

They were soft, warm, and airy. Lonnie curled up in her own bedroll on the other side of Rogelio and said:

“This place…” Rogelio rolled over to face her. “This place is great, but I think you know we can’t stay here for long,” Rogelio growled. “Yeah, I know but- I-...” she paused.

“I.. we never learned how to relax, and I know we won’t be able to learn how until we…” she struggled for words. “We have to fight in this war. I don’t particularly care who wins, but I have a hunch that there won’t be places like this under the Horde. Tomorrow, I think we should keep looking for any sign of the princesses. Especially Scorpia. I need to know that she’s okay,” Rogelio stopped her. He rumbled comfortingly.

“You’re right. In the morning it is. G’night,” Lonnie rolled over and let herself fall into a dreamless sleep. They could worry about things like war after breakfast.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to write a chapter for Rogelio but ran out of ideas sorry

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by @takathesquirrel's post on tumblr


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